Indonesia with Adventure Indonesia

The people of Java and Bali are warm and very friendly — and suffering severely from the lack of tourism. However, tourist areas are not crowded, the exchange rate is most favorable, and prices are very reasonable if not actually low. Consequently, I heartily recommend Indonesia as a prime destination for the soft-adventure traveler.
I took the 15-day “Java/Bali Overland” tour, April 3-18, ’06, offered by Adventure Indonesia (Wisma 31 Kemang, Third floor, Jl. Kemang raya 31, Jakarta, Indonesia; phone 62 21 7182250/56 or visit www.adventureindonesia.com).

For a private tour for one person, the price (excluding international airfare) was $1,900, including a well-qualified guide, a driver, an air-conditioned 4-wheel-drive vehicle, high-end hotels in eight separate locations, full breakfasts daily, and entrance fees to at least 20 attractions, side tours and temple complexes in Java. Water was provided daily, and toilet stops were paid for.

If more than one person were to take this trip, the price per person would be reduced significantly. The overall value was excellent, and I found Adventure Indonesia to be most competent and attentive to detail.
The trip commenced in Jakarta with a full city tour followed by ample time for individual touring, picture taking and shopping.

A 200-kilometer drive to the university city of Bandung included a lengthy stop at Bogor with its beautiful botanical gardens and former summer palace of the Dutch governor (1870-1942). Living on the grounds of this estate are rare imported tame Nepalese deer.

After a pleasant night and a tour of Bandung, we headed southeast to Pangandaran, a popular resort area and fishing village on a tiny peninsula on the Indian Ocean. Two days were spent here hiking in a national forest full of wildlife, taking a 3-hour excursion through Green Canyon with its caves, waterfalls and clear green water, and visiting the black-sand beaches and numerous seafood warongs (food stalls).

A 4-hour ferry trip through the backwaters along the coast took us to Cilacap, and from there we proceeded overland to Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is the cultural heart of Java and truly a highlight of the entire trip. Detailed tours of Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist temple complex; Prambanan, a massive Hindu temple complex, and Mendut, another eighth- to 10th-century Buddhist temple, were featured.

I visited the Kraton, or palace, of the sultan whose line has ruled the area since 1755; Kota Gede, the village of silversmiths and goldsmiths; Benteng Vredebury, the old Dutch fort and museum, and the Bird Market. During a free day I rode in becaks (pedicabs) around this most interesting city.

An 8-hour rough but beautiful drive took me up to Mt. Bromo, a 2,329-meter-high active volcano in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java. It was quite cold at that altitude. I arose at 3:30 a.m. to make the ascent up the crest of the crater to view the sunrise. There was a 45- to 50-minute strenuous trek across the “Sea of Sand” (actually, granulated lava) and then a climb up 250 very steep steps to the crater’s rim. Horses can be rented to cross the lava plain, but I elected to hike.

The views of the steaming volcanoes, the moon-like landscape and the sunrise casting many strange hues were well worth the effort. It was cold enough in the early morning to require a sweater as well as a jacket, gloves and a hat. I shed these as the trek progressed and the day wore on. To me, this climb was a most significant highlight of the trip.

We took the ferry at Ketapang on the eastern tip of Java and about an hour later landed at Gilimanuk on Bali. I spent two days and nights at Bali’s Lovina beach, an area that offered many sights and activities, including the market at Singaraja, GitGit (a 40-meter-high waterfall which I reached by rented motorbike) and a dolphin-watching and coral reef-viewing/snorkeling/out­rigger excursion at sunset.

The hotel here was well appointed, abutted the beach and was close to many fishing villages. A great deal of interaction with local people was not only possible but necessary to fully enjoy and appreciate this most unique area of Bali.

Next I had two days and nights in Ubud, the cultural center of Bali. Ubud abounds with art galleries, studios and stone-carving, silversmithing, goldsmithing and woodcarving workshops. While in Ubud I toured the Goa Gajah, or Elephant Cave; the Monkey Forest Sanctuary, and several temples, shops, museums and very scenic rice terraces.

The tour ended with two days and nights at the Kuta beach area in an excellent hotel located on the beach itself but close to the most significant activities in the area. Kuta offered great opportunities for swimming, surfing and shopping in a most romantic and beautiful atmosphere. Many of my memorable activities on Bali I arranged myself in my free time.

During this trip I encountered no security problems whatsoever. I did observe two minor demonstrations in Jakarta, but these did not affect travelers.

— ED LIFSET, Oceanside, CA